By my own hand
by Acerbatus
Summary: With the giant castle looming over him in his dreams and the burning image of his mother in his mind, will his friends and teammates be able to save him before his desire for answers gets him killed? Crossover with Castlevania, Rosario Vampire, and other minor sources.
1. A broken past to be repaired

**A/N: Hello everyone, Acerbatus here with the first chapter of my new, technically old, story. I decided to remake the story I had, since I didn't like how it had turned out. You may see the changes immediately, or maybe not, but I can tell you that they weren't exactly subtle. Well, I don't have much to say right now, so without further ado, on with the story! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the OC's I make.**

* * *

_Fire. There was fire everywhere. There was chanting, there was screaming, and there were cries for blood. There was a crowd of people, each wearing simple clothing, all ranging from tall to short to skinny to fat, men and women alike. Each of them were holding either a pitchfork or a torch in hand, all of them gathered around a tall cross-shaped construct, seeming to tower over their heads. Upon the cross, directly in the center, was a women. She was strikingly beautiful, more beautiful than anyone in their small village._ _She had long, shining blonde hair and was wearing only an elegant white gown. Her arms and legs were tied to the cross and her head was hanging, her gorgeous blue eyes glazed over; they had lost their spark, their fire._ _Her mouth was also set in a small smile, as if figuring that everything would be all right after this. The woman looked down and saw that there was a young boy being held onto tightly by the shoulders in front of the cross by one of the villagers. It was her son, a dhampir, and he was crying, for he didn't know what was going on, but he knew enough to know that his mother was in trouble. _

_"Mom... W-What's going on? I'm scared..." The boy said quietly, tears falling down his young face. He couldn't be any older than five. He had short silver hair and light blue, almost steel-grey eyes that had slit shaped pupils. He was wearing plain clothing that made him blend well with the crowd, except for his hair, his eyes, and the fact that he had two fangs sticking ever so slightly over his bottom lip._

_The woman mouth a few sentences, but the boy couldn't hear what they were; he only saw her lips move. There was a moment where everything was still before the cross was suddenly lit in a pillar of fire. The boy tried to scream but found himself choked by the smoke rising from the fire. There were cheers and the raising of weapons before the boy found himself pushed forward, landing on his hands and knees in front of the burning coffin that was the cross. He turned around slowly and saw the large man that had been holding him raise a pitchfork into the air. _

_"Die monster! You don't belong in this world!" Was the shout that came from the villager, striking down with the pitchfork to impale the boy. The silver-haired boy raised an arm in defense and was about to close his eyes, but there was a yellow flash that appeared in the area, then everything went black._

* * *

Naruto suddenly shot up from his bed, his body covered in sweat, his shoulder length silver hair matted down to his head. It was that dream again. He's been having it ever since he moved to Konohagakure no Sato. It always happened the same way, too, and he still can't remember what his mother said to him that day. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was time to awaken. Today was the day he would meet his team after all; he couldn't afford to be late. Tying his Konoha hitai-ate to his forehead and throwing on the rest of his clothes, he grabbed his family sword and was out the door. Dressed in an unzipped black flak jacket, like the ones the Chuunin of the village wear, with a long sleeved mesh shirt underneath and black cargo shorts with standard blue shinobi sandals. In addition, there was also his long cloak, the back of it black and the inside red in color. All in all, he looked quite odd for a Genin.

Since he still had time, Naruto decided to take a leisurely walk through one of the main streets, hands in his pockets while he whistled to himself. His eyes would shift back and forth every so often, noticing how people would seem to avoid him, or how they would whisper about what he was. This wasn't out of the ordinary. He was an unknown, after all, despite the fact that he had lived in this village for seven years. Letting out a sigh, he continued on to the academy in relative silence, listening as the street became busier and busier.

Nothing had happened during his short walk, besides a couple having an argument, a merchant trying to rip off an ignorant buyer, and a man's cart full of melons breaking down. He looked down at his sword, a rapier of sorts that he had been given by his mother, and made sure the sheath was tightly fastened to his belt before walking inside, his cloak billowing behind him.

* * *

Naruto took his seat near the front, sitting straight and dignified in the chair. The class was slowly being filled his fellow students, all of them having passed the test and all currently wearing their hitai-ate. The seats were soon filled before he heard the chair to the right of him dragged out and a body plop into it. His eyes shifted slightly and saw a mess of red hair above a roundish face and violet colored eyes with whisker-like marks on their cheeks. It was Namikaze-Uzumaki Nazuri, the second daughter of the revered Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. She was wearing an orange tracksuit with blue shoulders and the Uzumaki spiral on the shoulders and matching orange track pants with blue shinobi sandals. She currently had the jacket unzipped, letting her mesh shirt be shown and revealing quite a bit of her impressive, for her age, bust. She looked over at him and gave him one of her famous smiles, the ones known for brightening a room. Naruto gave her a curt nod and small smile before looking at the silver-haired girl that sat on the other side of the Namikaze heir.

She had the same silver hair color as Naruto did, but it was quite a bit longer. She had a heart-shaped face and ruby red eyes that had the same shaped pupils as his own. She also had a fang sticking over her lower lip. This girl was Akashiya Moka, a vampire and one of the four children of the local vampire lords. She was currently wearing a white battle dress that went down to her knees, black shorts under the dress, and dark combat boots. She also had a silver rosary cross around her neck, attached to a choker. There was something special about it, but Naruto wasn't sure what it was. She gave him a nod in which he returned before turning back to look at the front. The red-head next to him turned to her friend and began talking animatedly to her while they all waited for the sensei to appear.

As if on cue, the man that was their sensei, Umino Iruka, hobbled in on a pair of crutches. One of the sensei had attempted to betray the village and Iruka held him off long enough for the Yondaime to arrive and take care of the situation.

"Hello class, I'm sure you all had heard of what happened yesterday, and just to let you know, everything is alright. The situation was handled and I'll make a full recovery. Now, I would like to congratulate you all on your achievement. Without further ado, I'll begin to announce your teams. Team On- And with the beginning of his announcements, most of the class tuned the teacher out until they heard their names. "Team Seven is Namikaze-Uzumaki Nazuri, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke." At that moment, every girl in the room, barring a few of them, shouted their outrage at not being on the same team as their idol. Nazuri hung her head and let out a groan and Sakura had stood up and shouted her victory before whirling around and sticking a tongue out at her longtime friend and rival, Yamanaka Ino, who just pouted and growled in her seat. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and both Naruto and Moka gave Nazuri a look of sympathy, Moka also slightly disappointed at being separated from her friend.

"Team Eight is Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Team Nine is still in circulation. Team Ten is Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji." More groans filled the room and few heads hit their desks a moment later. "And finally, Team Eleven will be Akashiya Moka, Dracul Naruto, and Karyuudo Hitsu. That concludes the team assignments. Any questions?"

A bunch of hands were raised at the same time, Sakura's was the first one up. "Sensei, who is Karyuudo Hitsu?"

Iruka smiled and sat at his desk. "She's from a class that had an extra student and didn't want a four Genin team to happen. She's a Youkai, like Naruto-san and Moka-san." Youkai weren't extremely common, but they weren't extremely rare either nowadays.

"Now I leave you all to wait for your Sensei, I look forward to working with you all in the future." With that said, Iruka stood with the help of his crutch and hobbled out of the room. Nazuri sighed and stood to go over to her teammates, a cloud of depression surrounding her. She was on a team with two people she didn't like very much, and a sensei who she didn't know yet.

Naruto was about to turn to properly introduce himself to Moka, but stopped as his ears caught the sound of foot steps. The door slid open and in walked a female figure. She was wearing a flak jacket, much like Naruto's, but the standard green of Konoha. She was also wearing tight blue pants that formed to her legs and standard shinobi sandals with a very large broadsword attached to her back. However, they couldn't see what she looked like; she didn't have a head. "Is this the right room?" A young female voice sounded out.

There were shocked looks and wide-eyed stares all over the room. Naruto got the feeling that the figure was rolling her eyes, but couldn't really tell because of obvious reasons. "Why are you all staring? Haven't you ever seen a Dullahan before?" That answer was very obvious. "Well? Is this the room under Umino Iruka?"

Moka was the first to answer her. "Yes, it is. I'm assuming you are Hitsu-san?" A small bow of her body signified her answer as a yes. "We," Moka pointed to herself and Naruto, "are your teammates."

Hitsu made her way over to sit between the two of them. After small introductions, they fell into a silence again; the only sounds being small chatter coming from the teams that actually knew each other and others attempting to get to know their teammates.

There was a loud crash and glass exploded inward from one of the windows. Two kunai knives were thrown into the walls to hold up a banner that suddenly appeared at the front of the room. 'The super sexy snake mistress kunoichi of Konoha, Mitarashi Anko has arrived!' Were the words written crudely upon the banner. A tan ball of cloth had hit the ground and rolled into the center of the room. It uncurled and revealed a rather well-endowed woman wearing a tan over coat with a fitted mesh body suit that stretches from her neck down to her thighs and a dark orange miniskirt with shinobi sandals that had the addition of shin guards.. Her purple hair was set in a flared pony-tail, her light brown, pupil-less eyes were narrowed and her mouth was set in a wide grin.

"Alright! I'm Mitarashi Anko, sensei of Team Eleven! I want the maggots on my squad to meet me on the roof ASAP!" She was suddenly gone in a puff of smoke.

The three confused members of the squad slowly got up and made their ways to the roof. Seeing this, Nazuri pouted in her seat. Why couldn't she have the crazy sensei? It wasn't fair...

* * *

On the roof, the three Genin found their purple-haired sensei sitting on the edge, chewing on a sick of dango. "It took you all long enough." The woman grumbled. "Now have a seat and we'll begin introductions. I'll go first." Anko let out a sigh. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, My likes are dango, red bean soup, and snakes. My dislikes are people treating other people like they are lesser beings and a certain snake-teme." Anko trailed off at the end before continuing. "My hobbies? Torture and interrogation." There was a sadistic look on her face now. "My dreams for the future? Well, I guess that would be to become the head of the T&amp;I department." Anko's grinned returned and she pointed at Moka. "You, with the eyes, introduce yourself."

Moka nodded and began to speak. "My name is Akashiya Moka and I'm a vampire." She waited for what she assumed would be shocked expressions, raising an eyebrow when there were none. While vampires weren't entirely rare, seeing them join the forces of a village was. "I like tomato juice, blood, and the thrill of meeting and defeating a worthy opponent. I dislike cooking and when others are looked down on for being who they are. My hobbies are reading and fighting and my dream for the future is to get strong enough to take over as the head of my family."

Anko's grin got a little wider; looks like they'll get along just nicely. "Now you, headless."

Hitsu sighed, shifting in her seat. "My name is Karyuudo Hitsu, I'm a Dullahan. I like quietness, being engaged in combat, and reading. I dislike when people ask me about my head. I have no hobbies worth mentioning and my dream for the future is to be noticed for who I am, not what I am." A simple, yet admirable goal.

"Now you, with the cape." Naruto's eye twitched. It was a cloak, not a cape. There's a difference...

"My name is Dracul Naruto, I'm a Dhampir." There was a raised eyebrow from Moka and a shift of the body from Hitsu. It seems that they didn't know that, though he didn't blame them because he didn't have an aura of demonic energy that he gave off. "I like ramen, blood, the color orange, and the feeling of being engaged in combat with someone who is my equal. I dislike ignorance and people who don't earn anything through hard work. My hobbies are gardening and swordplay and my dream for the future is to find Castlevania and reach the throne room." Now he was receiving a shocked look from even Anko, who had read up on each of them before hand. Find Castlevania? Did this kid have a death wish? Not only was it crawling with some of the rarest and strongest monsters, but it was also home of the most powerful of monsters, Count Dracula, the first vampire. Rumor has it that even Death himself roamed its halls.

"Before any of you say anything, I do have my reasons for wanting to find it. I need to see my father in person. I need to know why he let my mother die." The silver-haired dhampir stated. There was a long silence as everything sunk in.

"Your Father is... IS DRACULA!?" Came the shout from all three of the females around him. He nodded, his face betraying nothing and showing that he was telling the truth. Both Moka and Hitsu looked pale, Moka more so than she normally did. Anko sighed and stood up, feeling a little dizzy.

"I'd like to clear this with Hokage-sama. Your real test will take place tomorrow at down in Training Grounds 44. Don't be late. Dismissed." Shaking her head, the purple-haired sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke to go talk to the Hokage.

Naruto sighed. Things were about to get extremely complicated for them, and he could only wonder what the future would hold for this unlikely team.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was the first chapter of the story, hoped you liked it. A lot of what I had planned will remain the same, but the stories of the characters will be changed slightly, some a little more than others. I didn't explain the story of how Youkai began to live among the humans since it will be explained in a later chapter. Also, more western names will be given in a western format for ease of understanding. I look forward to your reviews. **


	2. An interesting development

**_Hello everyone, Acerbatus here, finally getting around to bringing you the next chapter of my story. I hope it's to your liking as it was to mine. Sorry it took so long, I started it early September and had completely neglected it after Destiny came out. I don't care what anyone says, it definitely lived up to the hype it created for me, even though the story was a little lackluster. Now i must ask, save any complaints you have until the story is finished and you've read the author's note at the bottom. With out further ado, I give you: An interesting development._**

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_"Mother, why did Father leave us?" A young boy asked the woman in front of him, both sitting at a small table eating dinner. The woman looked up from her meal, a strand of blonde hair falling in front of her eye, making her push it behind her ear again. _

_"Naruto, I know you miss him, but your Father is a very important man and can't stay with us all the time." A small smile graced her face. _

_"Then why can't we just stay in the castle?" The boy once again asked. "It's big enough." _

_The woman chuckled softly and reached over to ruffle the boy's shaggy silver hair, making him puff out his cheeks. "Because that would just put us in danger and your Father doesn't want that." _

_"But... Couldn't he just protect us?" Naruto didn't really understand why they couldn't just go live with him. _

_"Because if he had to protect us all the time, it would put him in danger as well. We would just be in the way. Besides, if your Father had to protect you all the time, you wouldn't get strong, now would you?" _

_That effectively curbed all of the boy's questions, for now. They continued to eat in silence before the Mother's head shot up and turned towards the door. "Naruto, listen to me. Go to your room and hide someplace safe." "Bu-" "No buts! Do as you're told! Now hurry." The woman stood as her son ran to his room. The boy was hiding in a corner of his dark closet before he heard the wood of their front door crack and bust open. He only heard his Mother's scream before everything went black._

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open, heart pounding and breathing heavily. He looked around and saw that he was in a large clearing and to his left was a high fence that separated him from a dense and dangerous forest. Continuing to look around, he saw his two teammates also sitting against trees, each doing something that would keep them occupied. Moka was napping like he had been while Hitsu was using a kunai to carve a stick into a sharper stick. Their Sensei told them dawn, so they got here slightly earlier to be on time. Though Naruto did wonder why this was the training ground she picked...

A puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the three of them, signalling the arrival of their Sensei. "Good, you're all early." Anko looked around and noted each of her students. "Alright maggots, today I'll be issuing your final exam to see if you're staying a team or not." This didn't seem like a surprise to any of them. "Your final test will be to capture me". The three of her students stood from their spots.

The snake mistress reached into her trench coat and pulled out an alarm clock. "This is set for high noon. If I'm not captured by then, you lose. Normally, I'm all for the stealth approach, but I want to see what each of you are capable of so I'll be taking you on in the open." She ginned and pulled out a coin. "When this coin hits the ground, I expect you to come at me with the intent to kill."

The purple-haired sensei flipped the coin into the air. Naruto, Moka, and Hitsu each watched the coin, tensing their bodies as they got ready to move. With a dull 'thud' the coin hit the ground, signalling the start of their mission.

Naruto was the first to rush forward, fist cocked back and ready to let loose a powerful punch. Anko smirked; the kid was fast, but she could read his moves like an open book. She soon lost the smirk as she saw a blueish-green glow surround his fist before he sent it forward.

**"Tulkas no ken!" (Fist of Tulkas!)** Came the shout of the dhampir, letting loose a few more punches after the first, his sensei easily dodging them before her back hit the large fence that surrounded the forest. Naruto smirked and aimed straight for her head. Dodging her head to the side at the last second, Anko felt the edges of her hair become singed before she released a powerful kick to the boy's abdomen, sending him flying back and skidding across the ground. "Not bad kid, but you're gonna have to do better than that."

Sensing danger, the snake mistress jumped to the side just in time to dodge an axe kick from the silver-haired Moka that was powerful enough to crack the ground. She definitely had the edge in physical strength, and to think, she wasn't even using her full power yet. Moka didn't let up and rushed after her sensei, sending a barrage of kicks and punches which were all easily dodged. With one last axe kick, Anko dove to the side and back flipped away to get some distance.

Rolling to her feet, their sensei smirked and put her hands on her hips. "Is that all you got girly? I expected more out of a member of the legendary race of ayakashi. Even the halfling over there was putting up more of a fight." Anko taunted, her smirk turning into a grin as she saw Moka's eyes flash dangerously. The silverette roared and launched forward, cracking the ground. She cocked her fist back but widened her eyes as the snake mistress was suddenly in her guard, sending her flying back into the fence with a palm strike to the chest. Hitsu chose the moment of contact to leap forward with her broadsword drawn, bringing it down in an overhead strike.

Spinning to the side, the Miterashi dodged the razor sharp blade as it dug into the ground, quickly dodging a few more sword swipes before sweeping the headless girl's feet out from under her. Crossing her arms, she had a small smile on her face as she watched her team group together and look over the situation.

* * *

"Alright, we need a plan. A straight forward approach isn't working." Naruto analyzed their current situation, watching for any weaknesses in their sensei's stance and finding none.

Moka rolled her eyes. "Of course it isn't working, she is a Jounin after all. This is obviously a test where we need to work together to pass."

"She's also toying with us, hoping to make us angry so we make more mistakes." Hitsu threw her ten ryo in.

"Come on kiddies! Time's running out and I'm not getting any younger here!" Anko shouted out, twisting a finger in her ear out of boredom. She kept herself purposely out of hearing range of their whispers; she did want to see what they could come up with after all.

Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up and he turned to face his two teammates. "Moka-san, Hitsu-san, I believe I have a plan. I just hope it's a big enough surprise to catch her off guard. Now follow my lead." Naruto turned back to face the snake mistress who was now playing with a small garden snake but still keeping an eye on her students. He grabbed the edge of his cloak and pulled it over the front of his body to hide it from view, closing his eyes in concentration. The dhampir was suddenly surrounded by a small pillar of light before it closed and he was gone. Everyone in the clearing had dropped jaws, even Hitsu though you couldn't actually tell.

The pillar flashed into existence right behind Anko, making her spin around quickly and jump backwards as the light faded to reveal the silver-haired boy throwing open his cloak, three medium sized balls of fire forming in the empty space before being launched forward one after the other. **"Gouka!"(Hell Fire!)**

Anko grit her teeth and ducked around each of fireballs. She was definitely not expecting this. Sensing danger, the snake mistress ducked forward to dodge a flying kick from Moka before being forced to jump into a back flip, tucking herself into a ball as Hitsu's sword soared under her. Naruto took this time to charge forward, his fist glowing that blueish-green again as he slammed it into his sensei's back.

Anko let out a grunt of pain as she hit the ground, rolling across and attempting to stand but stopping as she saw two extremely sharp and pointy weapons poised at her neck and a fist ready to be plowed into her stomach. "Heh, well done kids, ya got me. Now get those blades out of my face so I can properly pass you brats." Anko winced and stood up, rolling her shoulders to get the feeling back in them. Of course, she had about a dozen ways she could have broken that little tactic of theirs down, but they were only Genin after all.

Just as she had stood up, the alarm rang out, making her new Genin smile. "Welcome to Team 11! Congratulations, you pass!" Anko grinned and gave them a thumbs up. "Now lets go grab some Dango! On me! This time." She mumbled and wrapped her arms around their shoulders before they had any time to offer protest, not that any of them would considering it was free and they were also starving. This would be the beginning of a new family and a beautiful friendship between all of them.

* * *

Somewhere in a dark cavern, deep underground, there was a dark room barren of any features bar a few torches which barely gave the room any light. There was a throne at the far end of it with a man sitting upon it. The only things that can be seen of the man were his glowing eyes, yellow irises with a snake-like slit pupil. A man dressed from head to toe in purple clothing suddenly entered the room before dropping to a knee. "Wagakimi-sama (my lord), you have a visitor." The man rose to his feet and left the room swiftly before he was replaced by a rather short man that was dressed in a formal suit, complete with cane and top hat. There was one other addition to the ensemble; a grinning white mask was placed upon his face. Giving a small bow, the man began his greeting.

"Greetings! It is a pleasure to see you again after being away for so long." The man lifted his top hat before lowering it again.

"I didn't call you here for idle chatter. Are the plans ready?" The man on the throne didn't want this meeting to drag on; this man made him strangely uncomfortable.

"Ah, yes, the plans... Uh, what plans were those?" The well dressed man asked, making the man on the throne growl and narrow his eyes. "Oh yes, those plans! I apologize, I make so many plans that I have trouble keeping track of which ones are with whom. They are ready, as soon as the final piece is in place, the invasion can begin."

The one on the throne almost purred "Good, good. Soon, Konoha will fall, and I will finally have my revenge."

"Great! Now I must take my leave, things to do and people to see and all that. Just don't initiate the plans too early, we wouldn't want you to mess with the plot of this story, now would we?" The grin on the mask seemed to be wider than it was before.

"What was that? What story? What plot?" The man on the throne knew nothing of any story.

"Nothing, nothing, forget I said anything. Now I bid you adieu, Orochimaru-sama." And with that, the formally dressed man vanished into the shadows of the doorway. Orochimaru rubbed at his temples, relieved that he didn't have to be in that man's presence any longer. The guy was seriously creepy, even to someone like him.

* * *

_**That's the end of that. I've just introduced the character that will begin to reappear the most in all of my stories and will definitely be the character I have the most fun writing. He is also not the only character from another series that will appear here. I don't own him, he is not mine. I will tell you this though, he's going to break the fourth wall a lot. The first person to figure out who he is before his name is known will have some say on one chapter of their choice, be it filler or main story, though the final decision will still be up to me. I'll also tell you that his name will be known around the start of the Chuunin Exams, so there is plenty of time. And finally, Blood Moon will officially be removed in a few days. Acerbatus, signing off.**_


	3. A growing tension

**_A/N: Hello guys, Acerbatus here bringing you the next chapter of By my own hand. This chapter is slightly longer than the last one and contains quite a bit more interaction between characters. First, I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed and all of you who like this story. I encourage more of you to review as it gives me more of a reason to put out more chapters. Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to respond to you regarding them. Now without further ado, on with the show._**

* * *

_'Where... Where am I? It's so cold... Wait... I feel... warmth...? Just like... Mother's?' A young Naruto's eyes slowly opened to gaze upon the face of what he believed to be an angel. Blinking a few times to clear up the blurriness, Naruto took in her features. This 'angel' had long red hair hair, the shade of blood, and violet colored eyes. Her face was round and had very light colored whisker like marks on her cheeks. In place of what would be human ears, she had two pointed fox-like ears that sat on top of her head. _

_The woman blinked as she saw the silver-haired boy open his eyes. He had been stirring for the past few minutes, she decided to sit by and watch just to see if he would wake up. "Mina-kun! He's waking up!" She shouted excitedly, quickly turning to apologize to the wincing boy. A few moments later, a tall man walked into the room. He had bright yellow hair that spiked in multiple directions with two bangs that came down to frame his face. He had electric blue eyes and a strong angled face with a kind smile on his face. He was wearing what Naruto would later recognize as the traditional Konoha blue shirt and pants that are worn by Chunin and Jounin. _

_"Glad to see you're awake, my name is Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Though, you probably already knew that." The man sweat-dropped when he saw the young boy shake his head. _

_"And I'm Uzumaki Kushina! Wife to the Hokage and previous Kyuubi-no-kitsune, dattebane!" The woman shouted again, obviously still excited and not wanting to get forgotten. She then proceeded to apologize more to the child for hurting his ears, making her husband sweat-drop more. _

_"Kushi-hime, you might want to let the boy have some space before he has a panic-attack..." The red-head puffed out her cheeks childishly but relented and backed away. The kid really did look like he was about to start panicking. "You know who we are, now may we know who you are?" The Yondaime asked, kneeling down to get eye-level with the silver-haired boy who was just sitting up. He'd been sleeping on their couch for a few hours, and he still looked exhausted. _

_"My name... is Dracul Naruto... I'm a dhampir... and the son of Dracula." The kid didn't seem to be lying, but that last part was extremely difficult to believe, especially since there was no record of that monster ever having a child._

_"Right... Well Na-"_

_"Where's my mother?" The young dhampir asked suddenly. _

_The Yondaime and his wife didn't know what to say. After returning with Naruto, Minato told Kushina of what he saw, and now he could assume that the burning figure on the cross was the boy's mother. "I... I'm sorry. I wasn't fast enough." Minato looked down and away from the boy; he couldn't bear to look at the boy's face. _

_By now, Naruto had gotten to his feet to stretch his legs before the words and the events of before hit him like a sac of steel blocks. "M-Mother?" Naruto dropped to his knees, eyes wide and hands tightened into fists. Tears began to drip down his cheeks before he let out a loud wail that made both of them cover their ears. __**"MOTHER!"**__ His voice was distorted, demonic. A power stronger than either of them have ever felt besides the most legendary of beasts suddenly erupted from the boy. It was filled with sorrow, anger, pain, and most of all, hate. Pure malice soon filled the aura of sorrow. __**"I'll kill them... I'll kill them all!" **__The aura increased in intensity, becoming a whirling red vortex of killing intent with the dhampir in the center of it. The energy was so intense that the walls and floor began to crack. Minato had no doubt that the whole village could feel it, maybe even a few surrounding villages._

_Acting quickly, the Yondaime delivered a quick blow to the back of the boy's neck, making him lurch forward and the aura dissipate as the boy fell unconscious. "I don't think he was kidding about being Dracula's son..." Was the only thing that either of them could think to say at the moment before the door was thrown open._

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open to the sound of loud, angry yelling in his ear. He winced as he shifted the ear piece he was using. "Sorry, sorry, I guess I dozed off for a second."

"More like almost an hour! We've been chasing that damn cat for about forty minutes! Get your ass in gear brat, she's closing in on your position!" Came the irate voice of his purple-haired sensei.

"Understood." The dhampir closed his eyes and felt for the energy in the area. Finding the ones he was looking for, Naruto shot out of the tree he had fallen asleep in and caught the small furry form that was bounding by. Holding the now identified target, a brown cat with white markings on its head and a ribbon tied around its ear, Naruto spoke into the coms device most early shinobi teams used to communicate. "Target acquired, waiting for regroup." Naruto struggled to keep the cat from squirming, gaining a few cuts and nasty scratches for his troubles before letting out a frustrated growl and grabbing the cat's head to make it look into his eyes. _**"Sleep." **_The cat struggled for a few moments before falling into a deep sleep and going limp. Naruto sighed and cradled the cat in his arms as he waited for the rest of his team to catch up to the cat.

This was the site that Anko, Moka, and Htsu came upon as the leaped down from a building. Anko looked irritated but none the worse for wear, Hitsu was fidgety and looked like she was trying her hardest to restrain herself from murdering it, and Moka looked positively livid.

"What the hell, Naruto no baka!? First you fall asleep in the middle of a mission, then you somehow manage to catch that demonic cat on your own in the span of a few seconds!? Do you have any idea how much we've gone through?" Moka had stomped up to him, her red eyes burning with anger and her hair flailing wildly behind her like silver fire while her powerful youkai permeated the air. To be fair, she had the right to be angry as she had seemed to suffer the majority of the cuts from the cat's claws.

"S-Sorry. I saw my opportunity and I went for it. I didn't mean to anger you." Came Naruto's reply, slightly taken aback by his teammate's rage.

"You a-"

"That's enough Moka, we can discuss Naruto's effortless capture later, but we should go turn in the cat before it gets any later." Anko didn't want any casualties to happen, especially before their first higher ranking mission, and between teammates at that.

"Understood, Sensei." The vampire crossed her arms under her chest and glared at her half-breed teammate. She'd play nice, for now.

* * *

"Team 11, reporting a mission accomplished Hokage-sama." The snake mistress stated, holding out the still sleeping cat.

"Impressive, that was slightly faster than my daughter's team, and even this demon cat likes her." The Yondaime liked to brag about his daughter all the time, though what proud father wouldn't? "I'll get Tora here to Shijimi-sama right away." He gave the sleeping cat to one of his assistants. "Speaking of my daughter, Team 7 has encountered some trouble on their first C-rank mission, and Kakashi sent a request for some back-up after being injured in battle. Normally, I would have requested the team to retreat and abandon the mission, but I trust Kakashi's judgement. Since you're the first team to be free of their missions, I'm going to be sending you to Nami no kuni to join a joint A-rank mission with Team 7. You depart tomorrow morning, so make sure to get plenty of rest. Dismissed."

Anko was slightly shocked that their leader would even consider this, but she wouldn't question him. "Y-Yes sir!" While her students didn't want to look like children in front of their leader, each of them looked like they were about to burst with excitement, even the normally stoic and irritated Moka.

About thirty minutes later, Team 11 found themselves sitting at a table in the local Dango shop, enjoying a nice meal before they had to start packing.

"You kids are lucky, usually A-ranks are only reserved to the top Chunin and Jounin. I've never heard of Hokage-sama giving one to a squad of Genin, even two squads backed by Jounin." Anko sighed as she took a bite of one of the Dango balls, flicking the stick into a growing pile of them. Their group definitely looked odd inside the small Dango shop, but wasn't exactly out of the ordinary considering there were many people that had a variety of animal appendages.

"I can't help but be anxious, we haven't really done anything involving combat besides training. This is going to be our first real mission." Hitsu stated, somehow eating her Dango despite not having a head to do it with. This was an extremely odd sight for many having never seen the girl before.

The other two nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can't afford to screw this up, we might not get another chance like this." Naruto said, still trying to hold in his excitement.

"If we 'screw this up', it could be the end of us, if the rank of the mission says anything about the difficulty." Came the voice of a still annoyed vampire, having apparently not gotten over their earlier mission.

"Hopefully the difficulty was overestimated and the hard part was taken care of by Kakashi no hentai. I don't want to risk my team after just having gotten fond of you brats." Their sensei grinned as she stood up and pulled out the exact amount for the bill.

"Kakashi no hentai?" All three of them questioned at the same time.

Anko sweat-dropped. "You'll see when you meet him. Now I want you kids to go get your shit packed for tomorrow. Pack enough to keep you set for a month, we don't know how long this mission will last, so best be prepared. Dismissed!"

"Yes ma'am!" Her students saluted before going off their separate ways.

* * *

It was tomorrow afternoon and Team 11 had just reached the boat that would take them to Nami no kuni.

"You kids look a little more professional than the last bunch that I took across. You look like you might actually have futures as shinobi." The old boatman hobbled towards the long boat, his black robe obscuring most of his features. He turned to face Anko and held out a skeletal hand. "Do you have my fee?"

Anko reached into a coat pocket and retrieved four strange-looking coins before dropping them into his hand.

"Heh heh heh, thank you." The old man pulled his arm back into his robe before getting onto the boat and motioning them to do the same. "I'm not going to risk the motor, so I'm going to need to row us there. Anko nodded and the trip began in silence.

A few hours later, they were almost at their destination and all of them seemed restless. Moka was hanging over the edge of the boat, looking green in the face as she tried her hardest not to lose her lunch.

"Are you okay Moka-san? You look a little... green." Naruto snickered. He just couldn't resist; he loved making her angry for some reason.

Moka glared at him and turned to say something before immediately throwing up into the water.

"Sorry Moka-san, I couldn't resist"

"I'm gonna... get you when... I-" Her sentence was cut off by another vomiting session.

Their teammates shook their heads, well, one of them did, as they finally reached the shore. Hitsu slung the seasick Moka's arm over her shoulder before helping her out of the boat, getting a nod of thanks from the girl.

Anko waved the oarsman away before turning to her team. "Alright, the village shouldn't be too far away if Kakashi's directions were anything to go by. When we get there, we'll need to ask around for the house of a man named Tazuna, that's where we'll find Team 7. Let's move out before it gets any later."

After a while of travel, and a moment of Moka attempting to kill Naruto, the team managed to reach the village and each of them were appalled by what they saw. They'd heard stories, but they didn't think it was that bad. The village was in shambles, houses were in states of disrepair, families were in the streets hungry and malnourished as father's and mother's did what they could to feed their children.

"This... This is all that Gato guy's fault. He's the cause of all their suffering." Naruto growled, his hands tightening into fists. They had been given the full mission briefing, not the toned down one that the bridge builder had given. "I'm going to make him pay for this." This got an agreed nod and grunt from both of his teammates.

Anko smiled sadly; if they weren't sure about doing this mission before, they certainly were now. After some asking around, and in some cases explaining that they weren't there to cause trouble, they finally got directions to the house they were looking for. Knocking on the door before stepping back, the team waited anxiously before a beautiful woman with long blue hair opened the door. "May I help you?"

"We're from Konoha." Came the snake mistress' answer. The woman looked around briefly before motioning them inside.

* * *

Namikazi-Uzumaki Nazuri was just banging her head against the table her team was sitting at. She was currently trying to stop herself from strangling the pinkette sitting next to her while the other girl was busy trying to talk to their other teammate about something that the boy had no interest in. They were all waiting patiently for Tazuna's daughter to finish the food before there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." She said from the kitchen before they heard a few foot steps and the door open. There was some mumbling before the woman walked into the dining room with a somewhat serious look on her face. "Kakashi-san, you have some visitors." She then went back into the kitchen to start preparing even more food.

Their injured sensei was sitting against the wall reading his smut when he looked up to see a face he knew all to well. "Hello Anko, so your team is the one Hokage-sama sent?." The one-eyed Jounin hid his disappointment that it wasn't someone he got along decently with, like Asuma.

"What's the matter, Kaka-hentai? You don't seem happy to see me." Her eye twitched. As vulgar as she's thought to be, even she didn't openly read porn in public, especially in front of kids.

Kakashi slowly slid his Icha-Icha into the special pouch he had for it. "It's not that, I'm happy Sensei sent someone capable." He chuckled. "Now you can take over the team training until I feel better." He gave an eye-smile.

"Tch, lazy bastard." Anko sighed and sat against the wall across from him.

Nazuri had lifted up her head just enough to see who walked in before her eyes widened at who she saw, launching herself over the table before tackling her friend to the ground. "Moka-chan! I didn't think Tou-sama would send you! I haven't seen you in weeks!" Moka was flailing as she tried to pry the hanyou off of her but was failing miserably.

"I... missed you too... Nazuri." Moka sighed and resigned herself to the fox-girl's nuzzling as Naruto and Hitsu sat at the table. After some introductions between Team 11 and the residents of the house, the now identified Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, had set the table with a bounty of food, despite not having much to begin with.

"Now Kakashi, I believe there are a few things we need to talk about regarding this mission." Anko's eyes twinkled with a dangerous gleam. Things were about to start getting interesting.

* * *

_**A/N: That was the third chapter of By my own hand, I hope you all liked it. Now, I'll soon be putting up a poll regarding on whether Haku should be male or female and if he/she should live or not. If female, she'll live and most likely join Konoha. If male, I'll most likely kill him like canon, unless enough people want him alive. So give me your thoughts and desires in your comments. Also, I'll begin dropping hints as to who the mystery character is and have decided to let the first person to guess what game he's from name him. I hope it's enough inspiration to get people guessing. First hint: The game was an RPG on the PlayStation 2.  
**_


	4. A revelation of sorts

_**A/N: Hello again, I'm here with the next chapter of By my own hand. I'd first like to say thank you for all of the positive reviews and your support for my story. It really makes me want to keep writing and the more positive reviews I get, the faster it makes me want to push out chapters. Second, I'd like to know what you all think the character pairings should be. It's not totally set in stone yet, so I'd like to hear what the readers think. I don't have much else to say at the moment, so on with the show.**_

* * *

Naruto honestly didn't know how he kept getting himself into bad situations like this. He would guess that this all started when it was his and Moka's turn to guard the bridge builder and his workers as they tried to finish the bridge as fast as possible. Now both he and Moka were dangling over the side of the bridge, tied together by a thick cord. Their arms were tied around each other with Moka's budding breasts were pressed flush against Naruto's chest as the dhampir had to fight himself to not look down, though he really, really wanted to. Looking down meant he would have the chance to see straight into the girl's cleavage, but that would also invoke the wrath of his female companion and that was something he would not risk.

"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't try to push me off the bridge." Naruto stated dryly as he felt the blood rushing to his head, looking down into the water. It would be very bad if the rope broke before someone could pull them up.

"I wouldn't have to push you off the bridge if you wouldn't try to fall asleep on the job." Moka growled through her teeth, her fangs bared; getting angry won't get them out of this situation.

"Point taken. Now, do you have an idea on how to get us out of this situation?" Naruto looked down slightly before averting his eyes up again, feeling some blood threaten to leak from his nose. He was a thirteen year old boy after all.

"Hey! What are you two doing down there?" Both of the Youkai blinked, looking to the bridge above them to see the red-haired girl that was their comrade. "Oh? Moka-chan, you dog, getting comfy with Naruto-san on the job, are you?" The girl grinned slyly, putting a hand over her mouth to hide it.

"I-It's not like that! Hurry and pull us up already before the rope breaks!" Moka shouted, cheeks flushing slightly, whether it was in embarrassment, anger, or just from blood rushing to her head was yet to be determined, as the rope above their feet began getting thinner, looking ready to snap under their combined weight.

"Alright, alright, I'm pulling." Natsuri mumbled as she grabbed the rope and began pulling, easily dragging them up with demonically enhanced strength.

After the two were pulled up and untangled, Moka whirled around and connected a heavy kick to her teammates chin, launching him over the bridge and into the water. "Know your place!" Patting herself off, she turned to her friend and put a hand on her hip, making Nazuri sweat-drop.

"What was that for?" The fox girl asked.

"He deserved it." Was the simple statement, as if no other explanation was needed.

"R-Right... Well, Sakura-san and I," Nazuri pointed over to the pinkette who was observing the builders work, "Came here to relieve you and Naruto-san of watch duty for the day. When we didn't see you, I had to search for your energies and found you dangling over the edge there. How did that happen, by the way?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later." The vampire yawned and stretched her arms, walking towards the back of the bridge to go back to Tazuna's house.

Nazuri shook her head and looked off to where her dhampir friend had landed in the water. "I hope Naruto-san will be okay." They'd known each other ever since she went with the previous Sandaime and the council elders to investigate the strange eruption of energy that came from her Tou-san's office. At first she thought it might be her Kaa-san throwing a tantrum, but it had felt different than that. She just sighed and turned back to do her job: make sure no one tries to stop the builders from their work.

* * *

Moka arrived at the house and opened the door, walking in to see the normal scene of her team and comrades lounging around the living room. She smirked as she saw an irate Naruto sitting in the corner, soaking wet with a large bruise on his chin.

"You didn't have to be so rough." The boy narrowed his eyes, his eyebrow twitching. "You're lucky I don't share the same weakness our kind usually has."

This of course, was the vampire's weakness to water. Contrary to popular belief, they could cross running water, but touching water that didn't have special treatment would severely weaken them. Naruto seemed to be part of the very small percentage of vampires and dhampirs that didn't have this.

"A little water isn't going to kill you." Moka sat down on her knees in front of the small table in the middle of the room, pouring herself some of the tea that Tsunami had set out earlier.

A grumble came from Naruto as he turned away from her, moving his wet hair out of his eyes.

Anko raised an eyebrow at their exchange, having been curious when Naruto had come back soaking wet, glaring at the floor, and grumbling to himself; it obviously had something to do with his teammate. "Hey, you two shouldn't be getting into lovers' quarrels on the job; we're still not entirely sure when the enemy might show themselves."

"We're not lovers!" Came the shout from both her students, cheeks flushing brightly. Anko chuckled and shook her head, going back to the book she was reading before.

The day before, after both teams had finished eating, Kakashi had fully filled Team 11 in on what had happened, and his assumption that the enemy, Momochi Zabuza, was still alive. They figured it would be at least a week from Team 7 and Tazuna's arrival before Zabuza would be fully functioning again. That was four days ago.

* * *

Nazuri and Sakura had gotten back with Tazuna after the workers had finished for the day. Soon after, Tsunami had set out dinner so the teams would be well fed and full of energy for training. It was Team 11 on one side with Team 7 on the other, Tazuna at one end and Tsunami and her son, Inari, at the other.

The meal was ate in relative silence with a few bouts of idle chatter here and there before the silence was broken by Inari. "Why. Why are you doing this? You don't stand a chance against Gato, so why?" The kid had a pitifully dark look on his face. "He's just going to kill you like he did everyone else that stood up to him."

Nazuri grinned, "This guy must be pretty strong, but we're ninja of Konoha, we don't give up and we don't lose."

There was a simultaneous nod from every ninja at the table. Kakashi had a smile under his face mask, proud of his sensei's daughter.

"You ninja don't know suffering, you don't know anything! You don't know what it's like to have a precious person taken from you! You don't know what it's like to watch someone you love get executed!" Inari had stood up and slammed his hands onto the table, tears and snot streaming down his face as he cried.

"Inari! That's enough!" Tsunami scolded her son. "I'm sorry, Gato took someone from us; he was like a father to Inari, and he's been devastated ever since."

The ninja all looked to the kid with sympathy in their eyes, except for two of them. Hitsu, simply because she didn't have a head, but still emanated a feeling of sympathy for the kid, and Naruto, because his face was still directed towards the table.

The dhampir's eyes were shadowed by his hair and his fists were clenched tightly in a ball in front of his face. His teeth were bared, clenched tightly with his fangs extended over his bottom lip. Moka, who was sitting next to the silver-haired boy, put a hand on his shaking shoulder and leaned in to look at his face, her eyes widening as his own had changed from their beautiful sapphire color to a fiery red filled with rage. His eyes were narrowed and the already slit pupils had become even thinner. "Naruto?"

"You think we don't know suffering?" The shinobi growled out, completely ignoring Moka and aiming his gaze at the sobbing boy. "At least you still have your mother and grandfather. I have nothing. I know exactly what it's like to see the person you love the most executed! I was forced to watch my mother burn alive!" Naruto had stood, his hands balled so tightly that his nails were cutting into the flesh of his hands, making blood stream and drip down his knuckles. "Don't talk like you know anything..." That part of his speech was deathly quiet, but everyone still heard it. Naruto's youkai energy had begun to surge but for the most part was kept under control. Anko and Kakashi were both prepared to subdue the dhampir if he were to try anything. The silver-haired boy turned towards the exit and left the residence, cloak fluttering as he slammed the door behind him.

Inari looked like he was about to piss himself before he turned and ran up to his room. Tsunami looked worried and Tazuna had a grim look on his face. The rest were silent. Anko sighed and scratched at the back of her head, "Sorry about that, we've all had bad experiences, and Naruto's had some of the worst."

"So... That was all true?" The pinkette surprisingly asked. She could feel the amount of power being released from her silver-haired comrade and it scared her. What's worse is that she could feel that wasn't even close to the maximum he could put out. Hitsu and Sasuke had been quiet through the whole ordeal.

"I don't believe that is any of your business." Moka answered, her tone conveying exactly what she meant: pry any deeper and you'll get hurt.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" Sakura inquired, not wanting someone that dangerous to be out there alone.

"Nah, it's best to let him blow off steam. He'll feel much better tomorrow." Anko replied, yawning. "Ne, Kaka-hentai, have you taught your brats tree-walking yet?"

The one-eyed scarecrow blinked and looked up from his book. "No, I don't believe I have."

Anko grinned, making the students of Team 7 shiver at the look. "Good, then we have something to work on since my brats already know it."

The vampire girl was suddenly hit by a delicious scent that overpowered that of the food in front of them, making her look over to where Naruto had been sitting and see the drops of blood that had leaked from his palms, her hand reaching out to scoop some onto her fingers, unnoticed by the others bar the Jounin in the room

* * *

'Zabuza-sama is recovering more quickly than I expected, but it would go much faster if he'd stop moving around so much.' A raven-haired individual dressed in a pink and white flowered kimono was walking through the forest, a basket tucked under their arm as they searched for certain flowers and herbs to put in said basket. The person hesitated as they entered a small clearing that had a body in the middle of it. The clearing was also a mess, as many trees around it had deep slashes in their trunks with a few even toppled over. Upon closer inspection, the person noticed the body was male and was indeed breathing; it seemed he was just sleeping. Getting a closer look, the individual saw the Konoha hitai-ate tied around the forehead of the sleeping boy, hidden slightly by the boy's silver hair.

'Hm, he's a ninja of Konoha, but he isn't part of the group that Zabuza faced. Maybe they called for back-up?' The individual asked himself before kneeling next to the sleeping boy. 'I should just take care of him now so he doesn't become a problem later, but...' They had begun reaching for the boy's neck, but ended up shaking his shoulder at the last second. The individual was shocked as they had found the tip of a blade suddenly poised at their neck.

"Sorry, that was sort of reflexive." The silver-haired boy shook his head and lowered his blade as he sat up. It was much later than when he came out here.

"You shouldn't sleep out here, you'll catch a cold." Came the individual's smooth voice, standing up to continue collecting herbs.

"My name is Naruto, what's yours?" The dhampir asked, stretching and standing up. Whoever she was, she was almost as pretty as his Moka. Blinking, Naruto shook that thought from his head. 'Where did that come from?'

"I'm Haku. I'm currently collecting herbs for a sick relative of mine, could you help me?" Haku asked, smiling politely.

"Sure, but I should be getting back soon, my team is probably worried about me." Naruto smiled and the two spent the next hour looking for herbs and talking, finally stopping when Haku's basket was full.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. You made collecting the herbs so much faster. I'm glad we had this time to talk, but I need to get going. I'll see you again sometime." Haku bowed and gave him a kind smile.

Naruto blushed and scratched his cheek, smiling as he returned the bow. "I enjoyed your company too and I hope your relative gets better soon. Good bye Haku-chan."

"And Naruto-kun? I'm a boy." Haku smirked and walked away, leaving a shell-shocked dhampir behind him. He wasn't lying. Naruto could smell the slightly masculine scent under a hint of perfume.

Sighing, Naruto turned toward the direction of Tazuna's house and started walking. This place was weird and he just couldn't wait to go home. He had a feeling that things would get really interesting, really soon.

* * *

_**And that was that. Honestly, I'm not too proud of that chapter, but oh well. Next chapter will most likely conclude Nami no kuni and will probably be my longest chapter yet. Also, I'm thinking on a second story in my spare-spare time, when I'm not working on this or doing other things. I think it will most likely be something to do with Bloodborne or RWBY. _**Now for your hint: The game the character is from uses a 'judgement ring.'**_  
**_


	5. AN (hopefully the last in chapter form)

**Before I post the actual chapter, I'd like to take this A/N to apologize for kind of leaving the story. I got into a major slump after some stuff happened at my work, I was forced to move out, and a lot of things in my life kind of went haywire. I've managed to get most of my life under control by now, and since I'm finding myself with an excess of free time between work, school, video games, and Pathfinder, I'm going to start working on this story again. Again, those of you who enjoy my story have my sincerest apologies. Those of you who don't, well, why did you even read up to this point in the first place? I as of this A/N, I've made a change to the summary and slight details. Hopefully this will be the last A/N in the form of a chapter but I felt it was important enough to be one, even if it adds to the chapter count. Anyways, hopefully the next chapter will be long enough to appease you. **

**Also, I went back and changed some of the things in the chapters that didn't quite add up after re-reading them myself, be they numbers or totally out of character moments.**


	6. Battle on the Big Bridge!

**No A/N here since everything I wanted to say was in the last A/N chapter.**

Sparks scattered to the wind as steel clashed against steel. There was a moment of grinding, a measure of force against each other before the smaller piece of steel began to gain ground, pushing the larger piece back. They finally broke apart with another shower of sparks. Naruto and Hitsu had been at this for the better part of an hour now. Since Zabuza, and who knows how many companions he had, uses a sword, they thought it would be the best idea to test each other's swordplay once more. No other abilities were allowed and so far, they were almost completely even. Moka wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was slightly impressed every time she watched them. It looked more like a deadly dance than a sparring match.

"You're pretty good, Naruto-san. However, this match is mine." Came the voice of their headless comrade.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Came Naruto's response, his eyes glinting with the desire for a real battle. Training matches were fine, but they couldn't really improve if they weren't allowed to be at their best. They were really only allowed to go all out in their training grounds, since anything else meant death by the hands or horns of some poisonous beast.

Both of them were suppressing their youkai by a great deal, to about an equal level, though Naruto had a higher natural speed and strength. Hitsu had a much heavier sword. Moka knew Naruto would win, like he had all the other times they sparred like this.

They charged and in a flash the match was over as Hitsu had been disarmed, her sword buried a foot or so in the ground behind them.

The Dhampir grinned, revealing his fangs like he always did. "As always, that was fun!"

The Dullahan just sighed and crossed her arms. "I can't help but agree, but would it hurt to let me win just once?"

"Now, now, Hitsu-san, if I did that, you wouldn't be able to get stronger."

By now, Moka had been itching to spar with someone herself, but she wasn't able to since it was hers and Sasuke's turn to guard the bridge with Kakashi watching over them. They decided to switch up who got to go so that they could have some inter-team bonding, but it usually just ended in silence between most of the members.

Sasuke really didn't want to acknowledge any of them, and while he would admit to himself that the silver haired female was definitely one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen, she was still beneath the Uchiha. Their race even had the nerve to copy the eye-color of the Sharingan… He knew she was a vampire, but he couldn't place what kind. Then there was the Dullahan. She just plain creeped him out. Then there was the other silver haired teammate. He was a total unknown, and Sasuke hated the unknown.

Sakura really didn't care who they were, and she didn't make many attempts to get to know them at all. She'd ask a few questions here and there, but Moka only returned a few words as responses and Naruto just answered her questions with another question that she couldn't really answer. Hitsu had really been the only one that she sort of learned about. The Dullahan seemed relatively normal for a monster.

Nazuri by far made the most attempt, but she didn't really count since she was already friends with both Moka and Naruto. Looking at them, you wouldn't have guessed that Nazuri and Moka were best friends because of how different they were. Moka was able to keep Nazuri on a grounded level as well as help her training along with a rivalry of sorts and Nazuri helped Moka by being so cheerful, which would really lighten the Vampire's mood. The Kitsune hanyou had only met the girl's parents a few times, just before super important council meetings. Her Kaa-san was really nice, but her Tou-san was scary… She even had two older and one younger sister!

Moka was currently biding her time until the shifts on the bridge ended and everyone went home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the workers confront Tazuna before slumping over and sulking away from the bridge. Even over the commotion, she had heard everything he said; he was abandoning the bridge because he was afraid of death. She understood just fine why he did it. He had a family after all, but she saw that as simple cowardice. The Vampire averted her eyes to the raven haired comrade.

She didn't understand what all of the other females thought of him. He wasn't that great to look at and his skill level was sub-par in comparison to a few others that she could think of. His arrogance though was equal to that of the lower ranks of Vampires. He didn't know when to admit someone was better than him. Even her own father would admit that the Yondaime was equal to him in certain ways, and he was one of the known Vampire Lords. Then there was the pink-haired girl…

The only reason Moka didn't loathe the color was because it was her mother's natural hair color. That didn't stop her from loathing the banshee's existence though. With super hearing, it was hard to resist punching her in the throat every time she screeched at something. She really felt sorry for Nazuri.

A tap on her shoulder from Tazuna told her that it was time to head back, so she gave him and Sasuke a nod and fell in place on the other side of the old bridge builder.

Arriving at the house, they noticed the tension in the air immediately. Upon sitting down, Kakashi immediately began, "Tomorrow will mark one week from when we arrived. Zabuza should have been at full strength by now, so he must be planning something. If I know anything about the man, he'd have most likely called in some reinforcements of his own." Zabuza might be a nuke-nin, but that didn't mean he didn't have outside resources. "We want you all to be prepared for the coming days, so get some sleep."

Since it was already pretty late, no one argued against that.

"_**Wake up, Alucard." **_

_Alucard? Who was that? Who am I?_

…

_That's right, I'm Naruto._

"_**Wrong. You are Alucard, son of Vlad Dracul. Remember who you are, and what you fight for."**_

_Why would I forget something like that?_

"_What is it that you fight for?"_

_I fight for… What do I fight for?_

"_**Have you really forgotten that easily? Fine. I'll show you again. And again. Until you remember." **_

…

Naruto awoke just as he did every day, with pain in his chest and the image of a burning woman in his mind, the magnificent Castlevania looming in the distance. That dream. It was always the same, but this time different. Had he really forgotten why he was fighting in the first place? No, he remembered clearly now. Next time he slept, he'd have an answer for that voice. But who was Alucard? The Dhampir looked outside and noticed what time of day it was before jumping out of bed in shock! It was pretty far past noon, so why didn't his team wake him!?

Naruto suddenly doubled over as he felt sharp pain in his side. Lifting his shirt to check it out, there was a large brownish spot over his ribs. He sweatdropped; that was a bruise only a Moka could make. He must have been really out of it. Then he heard the commotion downstairs.

"No! I won't let you take my Kaa-chan!" Inari rushed at the thug as fast as his legs could carry him, only to get batted away moments later by the hard casing of a sword sheath.

Waraji, the samurai with brown hair tied into a spiky ponytail, if he could even be called that, stared down with a menacing grin at the child. He was slowly drawing his katana, as if to prolong the look of terror on the kid's face. "Gato did say we only needed the woman. The kid is expendable.

Just as he swung his sword down and Inari closed his eyes followed by Tsunami's scream, there was the clang of metal on metal. Waraji's single eye opened in surprise as he found his blade blocked by a rapier of sorts. Zori, his white-haired partner in crime, tightened his grip Tsunami and brought his sword to her neck, just in case the silver-haired brat in front of them tried anything funny.

Waraji quickly brought his blade to bear against the teen interfering with their plans, delivering a few quick swipes to the head only to have them dodged until his blade lodged into the wall. Naruto's attention only shifted momentarily, his sapphire eyes bleeding to ruby as he glared at the other samurai with Tsunami. **"Leave her."** Focusing youkai through his eyes and voice, the power of Vampiric Suggestion could be used. If the target had a high enough will, it could be resisted, but it didn't look like this one did as he just let Tsunami go and backed away.

Naruto turned to the brown haired one before grinning, baring his fangs. **"Tulkas no Ken!"** A bluish green energy surrounded his fist as it plowed into the thug's chest, sending him sailing into his partner and out the door. "Are you alright, Tsunmai-san?"

She nodded to him as she checked over Inari for anything that might be broke. "Thanks to you, Naruto-san. Your teammates all went to the bridge. Go after them, we'll be fine here." Naruto nodded and flashed a smile before leaping after the thugs before they could get back up

Taking care of those thugs had been easy enough. He dragged them deep into the forest before he buried them up to their necks and tossed their swords into the water. They wouldn't get out soon, even with outside help. When Naruto arrived at the bridge, it was almost exactly as he pictured it would be, with a few noticeable differences.

There was a heavy mist around the bridge than even his powerful eyes couldn't see through fully, so Moka must be having the same amount of difficulty. He could hear the sounds of battle as he approached Tazuna being protected by Sakura and Hitsu. Hitsu had already felt him approaching and let Sakura know so she wouldn't give him away.

"Hitsu-san, could you fill me in?" He had his sword drawn and he looked like he was radiating with a morbid excitement.

"When we arrived, most of the workers were incapacitated and the bridge was covered in this mist. Zabuza was here and had two companions with him. One was a boy, I think, about our age. I think he's a Yuki-onna." She was tense and looked ready for anything. She wanted to be a part of this just as much as he did.

"But aren't Yuki-onna only female?"

"That's what I thought too." Came her hurried response. "The other one is a Vampire Hunter."

Naruto felt his breath hitch. He could only hope that Moka wasn't the one facing him. Even though they were called Vampire Hunters, they were adept at hunting other monsters as well. But seeing as Vampires were one of the strongest races, they were considered to be one of the most untouchable prey. "I'm going to help her."

"Don't die." It was a short exchange, but one that conveyed everything they were feeling at that moment, and he took that moment to feel out the area with his energy as well. There was a dome of ice closest to him with three familiar energies inside. Next was the heated battle between Vampire and Hunter. Further than that was the fight between their Sensei and Zabuza, and they were all doing well to keep each other on their toes.

Naruto shot forward into the mist, hoping he wouldn't be too late.

Sakura looked at Hitsu. "We're… going to win, right?" Although Hitsu didn't have a head, Sakura got the feeling she was being stared at.

"I don't know." For once, she really didn't.

Moka hated this. She absolutely despised this moment. Don't get her wrong, she was born to fight, but not in these conditions. There was a high amount of moisture in the air which severely weakened her, even when she released her full powers. She could barely keep up with this guy. And he mocked her at every turn.

"What's wrong Vampire-chan? A little water got ya down? Aww, that's too bad because it's really good for you~" He chuckled before firing another one of those damned, 'holy' crossbow bolts at her. They fucking hurt like hell. She managed to spin out of the way, but it had grazed her arm and sent piercing shocks through her body. "F-Fuck off…" She growled and leaped at him, smashing her foot into the ground where he was just standing seconds ago. She barely managed to even crack the ground. "Gotta be faster than that if you want to hurt me, Vampire-chan~" She received a cut across her lower back when she failed to dodge his next attack. The Vampire Hunter held out a jar of crystal blue, sparkling liquid. "Alright, I think it's about time to wrap this up."

Moka dropped to a knee and scowled at him. She was too weak to do anything. This man was going to kill her and she couldn't do anything about it. With a simple toss, she watched as if in slow motion, the object of her demise fall closer and closer to her before a black cloak filled her vision. "N-Naruto?" She tried to stand but her body was in too much pain.

"That's right, Moka-san." He had caught the bottle of what he assumed to be holy water. Even though normal water couldn't hurt him, this water certainly would have. He lobbed it as far off the bridge as he could get it.

"Maa, maa, who's this now? Another Vampire?" The Hunter's eyes narrowed and he leaned closer, sliding his hands into his pockets for a moment. "You're… not affected by the water in the air? That's no fair, no fair at all."

Naruto scowled at him. "What's not fair is that you're using someone else's trick to do your dirty work. She would have mopped the floor with you otherwise."

The Hunter stuck a pinky in his ear and twisted it around some as he had seen his sensei do a few times. "Fair point." His stance suddenly became serious as his hands slid up to the inside of the black trench coat he was wearing. "Let's see how you fare then, yeah?" He threw his arms out and unleashed four razor sharp chakram like they were shuriken, the deadly blades spinning rapidly and curving towards him.

Naruto moved just fast enough to hook his arms around Moka's chest and leap away, the chakram embedding into the ground where they just were. "Fast on your feet? Good, I like a challenge." The Hunter smirked. Naruto set her down on the side before handing her a pack of crimson liquid. "My last blood pack. You need it more than I do." The Dhampir whispered before standing again and readying his sword. Moka couldn't even turn it away with how sore she felt, so she ripped into the pack with her teeth and guzzled it down. It would still be a few minutes before she was back to acceptable strength.

"At least you care a little about the people you're with. The last Vampire I killed didn't even give two shits about his mate." the Hunter scoffed to himself. "I think I'm starting to like you a bit, so I'll give you my name before you die. It's Walter Van Hellsing, Vampire Hunter."

The silver-haired male pointed his sword at the Hunter before him, sapphire eyes flickering to red just as they had done before. "Dracul Naruto, son of Vlad Dracul." Walter's eyes widened by a marginal amount. 'Well then, if this isn't an odd development, I don't know what is.'

Fate just loved to screw with things. The descendant of Dracula and a member of the Van Hellsing family facing off? Only Fate could be this demented yet beautiful in its irony. That's all Akashiya Moka could really think about as she watched the clashes between them. In her weakened state, they were mere blurs of colors, but she could see the sparks flying off their strikes. When they finally parted, she saw that both of them looked like they had been hit by a truck that had dull lawn mower blades attached to the bottom that spun only fast enough to leave small lacerations. To make matters worse, judging by the amount of wounds, Naruto was losing.

'This isn't good. His attacks are too unpredictable to block or dodge properly.' Naruto growled to himself, baring his fangs to his opponent. Walter was sporting many wounds of his own due to clever maneuvers on Naruto's part, but the teen was quickly running out of moves. In Walter's right hand was a knuckle style weapon where the blades were in the shape of a cross and in his left hand, there was usually some kind of odd item or another that seemed to get him out of just about any kind of bind.

"I think it's about time to end this. I've had fun, but I have a job to do." Walter closed his eyes before reaching into his trenchcoat to retrieve two crossbows. They were also in the shape of the infamous cross, but they seemed different somehow.

Moka paled. One was bad enough, but two? "Naruto, those fire holy darts. They'll be strong even against you." She stood slowly as a good amount of strength had returned to her. If she could just sink her fangs into something that had even a little bit of power, she could help him.

The Dhampir nodded and stepped forward with his sword raised in one hand, his other letting off bluish green sparks every few seconds. "I'll be careful. Get as far back as you can."

They suddenly felt an explosion of power erupt from the dome of mirrors, shattering all of them. Whatever Zabuza's companion did, it sure as hell pissed off Nazuri. It seemed like it was just enough to deal with whoever the companion was before dying down.

"Well now. I really do need to finish this quickly before I have more than I can handle at once. No hard feelings, alright?" The Vampire Hunter seemed to vanish from sight. Naruto's eyes widened before his back, his arms, his sides, and even his legs felt pain bloom through them. He cried out and fell to a knee, a dozen darts stuck in his body. "I'm not surprised you're not more hurt from that. But that wasn't meant to kill you. It was meant to hold you still."

Naruto growled out again and slowly rose to his feet, body sparking with white electricity. This was it. He was going to die here without any of the answers he needed. He was barely into his near-immortal life and he was going to be killed by this Hunter.

Walter had taken out two of the same knuckle-blades, both of them shining with sparkling blue auras. It was holy water. "Again, no hard feelings." He launched himself forward only to, both of their surprise, be forced to backflip away from the foot that cracked the ground directly where he had just been. It seemed like Moka had enough time to recover and was joined by Nazuri.

Walter just let out a sigh and sheathed his blades into his trench coat. "I don't get paid enough for this." He shook his head and stepped towards the edge of the bridge. Even he wasn't cocky enough to think he could take on a powered up Vampire and a Kitsune-hanyou at the same time. "Fuck the contract, I'm out of here. We'll meet again, kiddies!" He chuckled before falling over the edge to disappear into the water below.

"Well Zabuza, looks like the fun is dying down. It's time for us to end this too, don't you think?" Anko grinned and held up her kunai. All three of the elder ninja looked like they had seen better days. Zabuza reared his sword up and Kakashi gripped his own kunai tighter. This would be the final confrontation. Even with their own battle, they could hear and feel the other battles going on. Whenever there was a large burst of youkai energy, both Sensei grew increasingly worried until it finally died down.

"**Sen'ei Tajashu!****" (Many hidden shadow snake hands!)** Anko acted first, dozens of snakes shooting from her sleeve. Zabuza swung his sword in a wide arc, eviscerating many of the snakes.

Kakashi went through a few hand seals before slamming his palm on the ground, intricate seals spreading from the spot he touched. **"****Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!****" (Summoning: Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!)** Zabuza couldn't react in time to dodge the dogs that leaped at him, each one biting into a part of his body and immobilizing him. His Sharingan eye spun lazily as he went through another few seals that he knew so well. His left hand was placed on his right wrist as a ball of condensed lightning chakra formed in his palm. The lightning arced out and crackled at the ground before his stance lowered. "We told you Zabuza, this is the end."

The bandaged man cursed and struggled to hold himself up. "Kakashi, do me a favor, will you? As a demon's dying wish, take care of Haku. He's too pure to live in our world."

The Copy Nin lowered his head for a moment before nodding. "You have my word." In a flash, Kakashi had speared his arm through Zabuza's chest. The silver-haired Jounin sighed and slid his arm out, his summons disappearing to let Zabuza drop to the ground. He wasn't dead quite yet, but his life was fading. "Take… Take me to him…" He managed to rasp out, blood leaking from his lips before both Jounin picked him up and carried him over to where the undoubtedly unconscious boy was. He also looked like he went through hell. At least all of their students were safe. They set Zabuza down and watched in sadness as the life slowly faded from him. It had begun snowing, as if the heavens were weeping for a demon.

Anko turned to her students and gave each of them a weary smile. Naruto looked by far the most injured, but he'd managed to pull most of the darts from his body. Moka had a few dozen scrapes and cuts but didn't look too bad for the most part. Hitsu wasn't injured, but the way she was standing told that the battle had weighed heavily on her mind. "Good job, brats. I'm proud of all of you." Kakashi was giving his students a similar talk.

Just as they thought it might be over, a slow clapping sound was heard from the other side of the bridge. There, a pudgy pig of a man stood holding onto a bejeweled can that glimmered with gold. He had about three dozen armed thugs behind him. "Looks like the Demon of the Mist was just a baby demon after all. Shame. But you ninja sure saved me a good bit of time and money. I was planning on killing him off anyways."

Everyone bristled and scowled at that. All of the youkai energies they had left flowed to the surface. Naruto's was especially potent at the moment. While he didn't know the man, he did respect him as a swordsman.

Gato didn't even seem to notice. "Looks like his boy toy is still alive though. Wonderful. Now I can let my men have their fun with his girly body before they beat him to death!" His thugs erupted in laughter.

Nazuri's energy became even more potent than Naruto's at that moment. She had seen it in Haku's eyes when they were fighting. He was a kind soul that didn't want to kill anyone.

"Then they can have their way with the village girls. Hey men! Extra women and gold to the ones who can take out these pathetic ninja! I'll even throw in the shinobi women as well!" Just before Gato could give the order to charge, something had stopped him from speaking. In fact, he felt a cold chill travel down his spine. The scenery slowly began to shift around him until it was total blackness, covering everything but him, the bridge, and the silver-haired teen with the glowing red eyes and the violent mass of demonic energy swirling around him.

The teen was approaching and Gato could do nothing other than tremble and watch until he was a good five feet away. "Wh-Whatever it is you want; I can get it! M-Money! Power! Loads of women! Er, even men?" He tried but the narrowing of the teen's eyes just scared him into silence.

"**I'd call you a pig, but that would be an insult to pigs and everything that ever consumed or was consumed by one. You disgust me. Take your own life before I do it for you."** In truth, Naruto hadn't moved. To them, his youkai output had increased and he just started to talk under his breath. To their surprise, Gato unsheathed the blade hidden in his cane and drove it through his own stomach, twisting it and carving out his insides. They were all disgusted in varying ways, but none of them denied that he deserved it. Just as he fell to the ground dead, a mass of footsteps approached from behind them. It was the rest of Nami no Kuni, all holding a variety of weapons. The thugs scattered, having no reason to forfeit their own lives.

Nazuri merely stared at the spot Gato lay in and said the one thing that was on all but Naruto's mind. "What the fuck?"

**A/N: And there goes the newest chapter! Sitting at about 4,380 words excluding the A/Ns, it's shorter than I thought but I hope it's long enough to satisfy. The next chapter will see the finishing of the bridge, the completion of an A-rank, and possibly the start of the Chunin exams. There are also going to be some surprises stored in there. We'll also possibly meet the mystery character. Until next time, Sayonara!**


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